An Encounter with Jesus: Let Go

On your way out. We have a special gift for everyone in attendance.

We're going to be doing this once a month until our twentieth birthday. Something

that has significance for a church, that's a callback to something. Maybe we've

done it in the past, to remind every one of our twenty years of

history. This is a luggage tag Venture Monogram luggage tag. On the inside

it says twenty years of adventures with Venture. On your way out, you

can get one of these. We want you to do two things with it.

Every time you see it, be thankful for Venture. But then in

addition, every time you see it over the next three months, be praying

for Di and I because this is an honor of the fact that Dian I

are heading out Saturday on our three month sabbatical. And there's no other way

to describe what we're doing better on our sabbatical than by giving you luggage tags,

because that is what we will be doing a lot. For those of

you that are newer to church, you might be wondering what is the sabbatical?

Why do pastors take sabbaticals, Why is Brandon getting a sabbatical? Why

are they taking a sabbatical? Now Tony and I did a podcast several weeks

ago on sabbaticals. You can scan that QR code and not listen to it

now, but listen to it on your way home or sometime this week if

you want a greater explanation of what sabbaticals are. But our promise is this,

we are going to come back in August refreshed and ready to teach our

August Vision series. So I'm good. The mission statement for Venture is make

Jesus famous. I love that so much because it is the one thing that

each and every one of us has in common. I love to remind you

almost weekly that you are surrounded by a bunch of people with diverse backgrounds,

diverse upbringings, and it don't have very much in common except for the thing

that matters the most, and that is that at just the right moment,

Jesus crossed our path and he changed everything. We've been in the middle of

a series that we are calling Encounters with Jesus, and we're looking at these

moments in the Gospels where individuals had an encounter with Jesus and it changed everything.

You see, sometimes these Jesus encounters lead to a life transform like the

one that Peter had. I shared on Peter's encounter with Jesus several weeks ago.

Sometimes these encounters with Jesus lead to a spiritual restoration and a sense of

forgiveness and a release of guilt and shame, like happened to Peter, as

I shared a couple of weeks ago. Sometimes these Jesus encounters lead to a

call in the ministry, like happened to Peter. Sometimes these Jesus encounters lead

to a physical healing in your body. There were people Sunday night that came

forward and you sought Jesus for healing, and God touched you and healed you.

Yet encounter with Jesus that changed everything. Sometimes an encounter with Jesus leads

to an emotional healing that there have been things maybe that happened to you in

your past that you are tormented by, haunted with, and you had an

encounter with Jesus and it was all of a sudden. It's like he set

you free, he delivered you. It's like the weight, the memories,

the hurt. In one encounter with Jesus, he supernaturally healed you off.

Sometimes these Jesus encounters lead to a breakthrough. I think we've all had moments

in our life where it felt like in our spiritual life we have nailed against

a wall, and then we have this encounter, this moment with Jesus,

where it is like we plowed through that wall. There are times you will

have an encounter with Jesus that brings you to an undeniable reality that you are

holding on to something that He's asking you to let go of. Oftentimes it

can be something simple, but you don't realize how profound that moment with Jesus

is because that simple something that you had put your trust in, put your

faith in, put your hope in, that you were holding on too was

holding you back in your relationship with Jesus. That once you're willing to let

go of that thing you've been holding on to, all of a sudden,

this spiritual breakthrough you've been praying for will happen. You see, there are

many of you that are here this morning, that are watching online, that

are listening to this podcast, and you have been praying for an encounter with

the Holy Spirit. You have been praying for a breakthrough with the Holy Spirit.

Sunday night, you came forward. You came to the section over here

where Pastor Choko was praying, and you earnestly sought after Jesus, believing for

a breakthrough with the Holy Spirit in your life. Some of you, you

have been praying for a dream for your future. You've been wondering what does

God have next for me? And I keep seeking God for vision and direction

and a dream for my future. You've been believing for that. Others of

you you're praying for a spiritual breakthrough. Some of you you're praying for a

financial breakthrough. And there's many of you that are here you're praying for a

breakthrough with your kids. You're praying that that same encounter with Jesus that you

had that turned your life upside down, that maybe your kids would have that

same encounter and their life would be turned up turned around for Jesus too.

But you gotta be honest. You keep pursuing it, you keep seeking it,

but you can tell there's just something that's holding you back. Think you're

going to relate to this story. It's Matthew, chapter nineteen. I'm gonna

start reading from verse six sixteen. Then we'll pray. You guys with me,

all right? Still getting over getting sick. Just then a man came

up to Jesus and he asked, Teacher, what good thing must I do

to get eternal life? Why do you ask me about what is good?

Jesus replied, there is only one who is good. If you want to

enter life, keep the commandments, which ones the man inquired. Jesus said,

you shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, You shall

not steal, You shall not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother,

love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said, all these I

have cat but what do I still lack? Jesus answered, if you want

to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and

you'll have treasure in heaven. Then follow me. When the young man heard

this, he went away sad because he had great wealth. Go down to

verse twenty five. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished,

and they asked, who then can be saved? And Jesus looked at them,

and he said, with man, this is impossible, but with God,

all things are possible. I want to ask everyone to buy your heads,

close your eyes, repeat this prayer after me. Everyone say dear Jesus,

speak to my heart, change my life in Jesus' name. Amen,

really innocent conversation that this man had with Jesus that led to the reality that

there was something that he was holding on to so tightly. It was keeping

him from Jesus. Well, we know about this man. First off,

this was a real man. This is not a parable This wasn't some metaphorical

story. This was a real man who had a real encounter with Jesus.

We know about him. He was wealthy, successful, he was influential.

This was a good man and he came up to Jesus and outwardly, if

you saw this man, you'd say that guy is charmed. I mean,

he is blessed. He has everything that the war would say you would want.

People knew him, they respected him, they liked him. This guy

lived in the nice house in the right neighborhood. He drove the right car,

he had the right friends. He was a leader in the community.

And you know what, this guy went to church. He was a religious

man. And this is the guy you would see greeting working as an usher,

taking care of your kids in the kids ministry. He gave weekly in

the offering outwardly. This guy did everything you are supposed to do, but

he knew something was missing. He still knew there was something missing in his

heart, and he was haunted day after day, night after night. What

am I lacking? It's just I can sense something's missing. I'm not completely

at peace. I'm not completely satisfied. There has to be more. Man.

I respond to alter calls and it always feels like I'm hitting the wall.

Man, I can't quite get that breakthrough in in I sense something is

missing. I appear to have it all, but I know I'm lacking.

So here's Jesus is in town, and he goes to where Jesus is and

he asks Jesus a really spiritual question, probably a normal question. He says,

Jesus, what must I do to get eternal life? Man? How

do I go to Heaven? I mean, this guy's spiritual. He believes

in heaven and hell. He wants to go to heaven. And he's saying,

what do I have to do to guarantee heaven? And Jesus responds by

saying, keep the commandments, follow the ten Commandments. And this man was

religious, he knew the levitical law. He was a Jew, he was

trained in these things since birth. He knew that Moses went up on Mount

SINAI, has an encounter with God, comes down and shares the ten Commandments

with God's people. He knew this, and he tried everything he could to

follow these ten commandments. But he still knew something was missing. So when

Jesus says follow the ten commandments, he digs deeper and he says, which

one. I mean, which one of the ten matters? I'm trying to

follow them all? And then Jesus follows it up by saying this. He

says, you should not commit murder. Are you taking the test too?

I pass allen. You should not commit adultery. Won't make you raise your

hand. Uh. You shall not steal, I mean, do taxes count?

Not talking for Morgan, Butcher not me. You shall not give false

testimony. What does that mean? It means you've been a witness at a

trial and you haven't lied. Honor your father and mother. Try best love

your neighbor as yourself. You don't have my neighbors. The man is checking

these off, and he says this. He says, all these I've kept.

In fact, other translations say I kept all of these since I was

a young boy. I was raised in church. I went to Sunday School,

I went to youth group. When I finished high school, I became

a youth leader. Man, I understand all of these. I've kept all

of these since I was young. And then he says, what do I

still lack? This man knew something was still missing, that he was still

absent a sense of peace. There was something missing inside. He said,

what do I still lack? Paul in the Book of Ephesians said, for

grace, you have been saved through faith. That this is not of your

own doing, that it is a gift of God, not a result of

works. It is amazing. You can't good yourself into heaven, he says,

not a result of work, So that no one can boast. This

man still feels like he's missing something. I bet a bunch of you can

relate to this. You just feel like something's missing, and you keep going

forward. During alter times, you raise your hand to be prayed for.

It's like you were on the cusp of a breakthrough, but the breakthrough never

quite happens. There's something missing, and you're wondering what is it. I

have been very transparent with our church about my challenges with anxiety. In particular.

It was about seven years ago I ended up hospitalized because my anxiety was

manifesting itself as a heart attack. And as I was wrestling through how do

I cope with anxiety? I came out the other side with this illustration.

And I share this often with you, And this is a reminder to me

that I am to hold on to Jesus like this, and that I am

to hold on to everything else like this, and that whenever I loosen my

grip on Jesus and I tightened my grip on anything else, my anxiety shoots

through the roof. People meet with me all the time that struggle with anxiety,

and they want advice, and they say, how do you recognize your

triggers? And I say, when I'm sensing anxiety, I know full well

what it is. I'm loosening my grip on Jesus and I'm tightening my grip

on other stuff. What do I still lack? If you want to be

perfect, go sell your possessions and give them to the poor, and you'll

have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. You see what happens is

after a while, we as humans, we will tighten our grip on Jesus,

but it becomes loosened and we begin to hold on to this other stuff,

these other things, that we start putting our trust in, these these

other things that give us security, give us hope, give us a future.

And I want you to know that it's not bad to have these other

things. Like these other things oftentimes are a blessing and gift from God.

But the problem comes when you and I don't put our trust in Jesus,

but we put our trust in these other things. The problem comes when these

other things become a priority over Jesus. So my question for you today is

what are you holding on to? I it's really clear what the rich man

was holding on to. We are told this man had amazing wealth. In

fact, when Jesus said you need to lay it all down, the Bible

says when the young man heard this, he went away sad because he had

great wealth. He's like, I earned this, I worked hard for this,

and that word was dejected, down cast. He left. He thought,

He's right, that is the thing that I'm holding on too. But

I don't want to lay that down. There might be something that's holding you

back. There might be something that you have grabbed a hold of that's holding

you back from your breakthrough. Today, I want to mention what I think

three of those things are. Now. This list is by no means exhausted.

I know that there are many other things, but I think these are

the three that I want to highlight today. And the first one is what

this man struggled with in this story. It's prosperity. It was the issue

for this man. He was rich. We're told he was rich. He

had wealth, he had stuff, he was blessed, He had everything that

the world would say you would want. And over time, this is what

he put his trust in. Over time, this is where his security came

from. Over time, this became his identity. Now, I want you

to hear me say very clearly, there is nothing wrong with wealth. I

do not have a problem at all with wealth if you tithe. In fact,

I love seeing people who loved Jesus, who were faithful givers, be

blessed exponentially. But the issue comes when you hold so tightly onto this that

you won't let go. When the young man heard this, he went away

very sad, because he had great wealth. This guy knew it was this

prosperity. That was the one thing he refused to let go of. And

his attitude was this, Jesus, you can ask me for anything, just

not that. Man. I'm willing to lay anything down, but I put

trust in that. I find my identity in that. I put my hope

in that. Don't ask me to lay that down. Number two. Second

thing that people will hold on to is their priorities. You don't have a

problem with prosperity. You struggle giving up your time, You struggle giving up

your desires, your plans. Your attitude is, Lord, you can ask

me for anything, just don't ask me for softball. And I am not

laying down softball dudes and their obsession with softball. I mean, there are

guys we can't get you one time a month to hold a baby in a

nursery. But you won't miss your three softball games a week. You will

turn over every rock, change every schedule to make sure you do not miss

that softball game. But showing up fifteen minutes early to greet on a Sunday

once a month, WHOA, that is an inconvenience. Oh Lord, ask

me for anything, but don't ask me for golf. And I know dudes.

They will restructure their entire life for a game of golf. But you

ask them to do something else, and it is like, I'm way too

busy. I can't possibly do that. You're in it. That's an inconvenience.

I don't have time. Hey, do you want to go golf at

this time, at this place. Let me see what I can do.

Just don't ask me to submit my goals, my dreams, my visions,

my priorities to you, Church. There's nothing wrong with being a dreamer.

There's nothing wrong with having goals and vision. There's nothing wrong with playing softball,

there's nothing wrong with playing golf. None of those things are wrong.

But when it becomes everything in your life, it might be the thing that

is holding you back from the breakthrough with Jesus. Whatever it is, do

you find yourself loosening your grip on Jesus and tightening your grip on You might

need to let that thing go. You can ask me for anything, Jesus,

just not that. Maybe for you it's not prosperity. Maybe for you

it's not priorities. Maybe for you it's position. It's your position. Your

title means everything to you. I've worked hard for this position. I earned

this title. I earned this job. There's nothing wrong with having titles.

There's nothing wrong with aspiring to a position. Now, I went all the

way through school. I earned the right to have the title doctor. But

I prefer you call me PB. Like doctor is a title that anyone can

earn because you take enough school to get it. But when my staff and

the people in the church call me pbe short for Pastor Brandon, not peanut

Butter. You might mean peanut butter to you, but I consider it a

a term of endearment. But there's nothing wrong with titles. But when your

title becomes your identity. Did you know that because of a document that hangs

on the wall in my office, I have the right when you say hey,

Brandon, to correct you and say it's doctor Beals. Hey pastor Brandon,

Hey, it's okay, it's it's it's doctor Beals. I earned the

right to do that. Now. I would be a tool if I did

that. Titles and identity are fine until you start gripping them tighters ministers.

This is such a huge challenge for ministers. It really is, especially young

ministers. Young ministers they get called into ministry usually at a youth camp or

kids church, and they just can't wait to be quote unquote a pastor.

And then when they get the educational qualifications for pastor, they just want to

be called it. They're like obsessed with the title of pastor. And just

because you have the title doesn't mean you earned the title. You can anybody

can take a bunch of classes and qualify for something, but to be able

to earn the right to be your pastor is something that's different. I was

thinking about this this weekend. So for our staff, Fridays and Saturdays are

our off day. So here's what dian I did on our days off.

Friday night, we went to a passo versatyr meal with a family in our

church that lasted three hours. Then we got up the next morning and we

went to a memorial service for someone in our church who'd passed away. Then

two hours later, by the way, this is my day off. Then

two hours later I drove all the way to the middle of nowhere in Machias

and performed a wedding for a family in our church. Why do I do

that? Because I am their pastor. And when the wife whose husband passed

away says to die and I I just want you and Pastor Morgan and Pastor

brand And and Pastor Christian to be able to say goodbye to him. Well,

we earned the right and there's not a chance on planet Earth that we

are gonna miss that. The title doesn't matter. It's the role that it

matters. I think like Die is such an amazing example of this, just

showing that the title is not what matters. So the last few weeks,

We've had multiple ministerial gatherings, different denominations and different places. I mean,

Die and I've flown all over to go to all these ministry ministerial gatherings,

and we just this past weekend we're at our denominational one, and uh,

everyone often not everyone, but oftentimes people refer to her as Brandon's wife.

They refer to her as the pastor's wife. And Die is She's like so

incredibly gracious when that happens, because the title doesn't matter. It title's not

something that she holds onto. You know, Die is the co pastor of

the church. You know, Die is the cod pastor of this church.

You know that most of you are Saturn. Die is going to be gone

for three months than you are. That I am titles are great until you

hold on to them tightly. Political titles and aspirations are great until you hold

on to them tightly. Celebrity is great until you hold on to it too

tightly. You see, the thing that you are holding on to might be

the very thing that is keeping you from your breakthrough. What if Jesus is

asking you to lay it down and and once you begrudgingly lay it down on

the other side of that is this breakthrough that you have been praying, believing

for for days, months, years. What is God asking you to let

go of? What are you starting to grip too tightly too? Saturday Die

and I go on our sabbatical. I really struggled with whether or not I

was going to do this, but we got to the point where the board

said this is not optional for you, branded we want you to do this.

And I was on an airplane on Tuesday. Here's what happened. I

was at our ministers gathering in Idaho, and my son Elijah, who is

the epitome of spontane is buying a jeep for me that stays at my place

in Vegas. And Elijah announces, Hey, I'm flying to Vegas on Wednesday

to go get the jeep. Thanks for telling me, because the keys to

the jeep are locked in a closet that only I have a key to,

and I'm in Idaho, but he's on his way there. So I have

to hop on a plane from Spokane, fly to Seattle, fly from Seattle

to Las Vegas. I uber to my condo, unlock the closet, grab

the keys, put it on the counter, lock the closet, go back

to the airport, and fly back to Seattle. Come home so I can

be at work the next day. I spent nine hours on an airplane to

get Elijah keys. But while I was on that airplane, I was studying

for this message. And there are many times I write sermons for you.

It's the test, the text that lines up, and I prepare this sermon

thinking about you, writing this for you. And in this nine hour three

different plane flights that I had, the Holy Spirit started dealing with me.

I hate it when he makes me eat my own sermons. Oftentimes preachers will

say, because it sounds super spiritual, the Holy Spirit had to work on

me first with my sermon before you. That's just not true. Ninety percent

of our sermons we write are for you, but the ten percent when he

does messes with us and inconveniently happens on plane rides. And what I realized

was my anxiety as I got closer and closer to the sabbatical was increasing to

the where I was like, do I really want to do this? Should

I really be gone? Should really do this? And then the Lord reminded

me, Brandon, when your anxiety increases, you're letting go of me and

holding on tight to something else. Church. I love everything that is happening

at Venture right now. I love my job right now more than any other

time in my life. I look forward to preaching to you every single Sunday.

I love the people in our church. I love the team that God

has built up here. I love my staff. Recently, somebody told us

that they were leaving the church because Brandon keeps referring to the staff as my

staff. I love my staff. If you're mad about it, go to

Gold Creek. I am so excited about what Jesus is doing in your lives

and in our community and in our church. To be really honest, I

am seeing dreams that I had in my twenties come to fruition in my fifties.

I love that my kids love this church, in the mission of this

church. And I want you to hear me say, I am not tired,

I am not stressed out. I feel refreshed and alive. I didn't

feel like I needed a sabbatical. But it was on that airplane where the

Lord said, well, why, Brandon, why are you anxious about this?

And he says, you know why, because you're having a hard time

trusting these people with me for three months? And I was like, well,

Jesus, it's always been me, you die, and we do this

thing together. And I felt like the Lord said, the reason I want

you to go on your sabbatical now is to completely let go of everything.

Just let it go. Trust these people that you love, that are your

chosen family with me, Trust these people, this church that you love in

the hands of these people and Jesus. And I felt like the Lord just

very calmly said, I know you have energy. I know you're refreshed.

This is going to be so good for you. Brandon. What is God

asking you to loosen your grip on? Did you know that when you let

go of it, on the other side of that is that breakthrough that blessing

that you have been praying, hoping, and believing for well. I'm fully

expecting that when Die and I come back in August, we're gonna have fresh

vision, fresh passion, fresh energy, fresh fire for the next twenty years.

I want everybody to bow their heads and colil their eyes. If you're

here and you'd say, Brandon, pray for me or something that I'm holding

on to. I need to let go of. This is that thing.

There's something I can tell something's missing. What is it, Lord that I

need to let go of. If that's you, will you raise your hand,

Lord Jesus right now. I pray for the people at this church.

God. I pray that this would be the moment they would loosen their grip

on the thing that is holding them back and let it go. In fact,

Lord, I pray that when they get in their cars and drive home,

it is like everything is new, everything is free, because they laid

it down and they left it behind and now they're moving forward. And I

want to pray that breakthrough after breakthrough would come, and Lord, I pray

that you would cross their path and change everything in your name. I pray Amen,